First off, new Mistborn Annotation. This is a shorter annotation, to make up for Monday’s super sized one!

Now, on to other business. Some of you may know about the curious phenomenon known as the Hugo Awards. They’re like the Academy awards for sf books, only with fewer celebrities (fewer, not none, since we did have a member of the Firefly cast step up and accept an award this time.)

Well, I wasn’t up for a Hugo this year, but I was up for the Campbell. (Scalzi!!!) I was very pleased to discover that Campbell nominees, however, do get a Hugo pin. What’s a Hugo pin? Well, it’s a nifty little pin you can wear on your lapel to show off the fact that you’ve been nominated for a Hugo. Which I haven’t. But it’s still cool. It looks like a Hugo (see the dramatization below) but cuter.

Anyway, so the person who told me–via email–that I got a pin told me I could pick it up at the Hugo awards reception desk. I either misunderstood him, or he wrote it wrong, because the actual pin came in the packet I picked up in the green room the first day of the Con. It was tucked into the bottom envelope. I never even noticed it.

So, I wandered over to the Hugo ceremony in my suit and tie, with no Hugo pin. I asked for it, and they gave me blank stares, and told me it was in my packet. Well, characteristic to my style, I was already running late, so I didn’t have time to go back.

I saw Cory at the party, and had always wanted to meet him. I introduced myself, and asked him where he’d found his Hugo pin (he was up for an actual Hugo, having already done that Campbell thing years ago). He said it was in his packet, noticed that I didn’t have mine, and immediately took off one of his two pins and handed it to me to wear during the party and ceremony.

All joking aside, it was one of the classiest things I’ve ever seen a person do. I gave him his pin back at the after-party (by then, I’d fetched mine) then had a very nice, long chat with him about the creative commons. Everyone, go read his books. He offers them up for free download on his website, so you’ve got nothing to lose by taking a chance on them. I’ve read his work, and it’s excellent. (Plus, it’s not like anything else you’re likely to find on the market.)